Base-supported rail-joint.



F. S. STEVENS.

BASE SUPPORTED RAIL JOINT. APPLICATION FILED APR. 5, i914."

' 1,145,335. I PmmeaJul es,1915.

a SI 0 rilw I I WITNESSES 1E i r Mam 3 M M- r an improvedpdevi'ce' ofthis charactenin To-aZZ whom it may concern vcitizen of the United:States,'and a resident of Reading, in the county/of Berks-and 'State ofPennsylvania, have made {a'nd invented certainnew', and, useful: Improvements in Base-Supported Rail-Joints, of

mm; s. 's'rnvnusjfo'rnnaniive, rnnnsrnva iili. a i

ma net sm salt- OINT.

Be it known that I, FRANK sm vmsfa which the following is aspecification.

.Myinvention' relatesftoqrail joints, "my more particular purpose beingto produce which special provision is made f01.'S11P-' porting thecndsof the'rails at the, points Where the greatest stressesare-likelyiflto :occur.v a i q More particularly splice bars eachrestingupon suitable'supports and provided with a 'depending'portioncarrying a massive seat, the latter being so locatedrelativelyto the rails as to support the endsthereof directly, andotherwise to resist the greatest'strains received from.

the railsthe splice bar being of such form that'it is preferably made,in practice, from. a cast metal.

'My invention further contemplates the a use of bolts whenever'fdesired,for extending the general efficiency thereof.

"invention. a

Reference is madejtothe accompanying through the depending portions ofth'esplice bars and thus-preventing the splice bars and parts connectedtherewith from spread- 1 ing apart in CODSGqUBHCQOf the downwardpressure exerted by the rails. My invention also embraces various formsand combinations of parts, used for the purpose of supporting the rails,and particularly the ends thereof. upon a bridge lilre structure ofexceptional strength.

In addition, my invention covers various improvements in rail joints,for increasing Asmy device may be practised in different ways, I willfor the sake of concisenessidescribe only two forms, and these may beconsidered as merely representative-of the drawing forminga part ofthisspecification, and in which. like. letters indicate like parts.

Fi tion and partly brokenr-away', improved form of railjoint,

showing my Figlf'Q is a section, on the line 22 of Fig. l,y-looking inthe direction of the"arrow..- isa: detail view showing infragmentary.eleva-f;; tion the inner face of thedepending portionSpecification of Ii'etters l atent stated, in making my unproved railoint,.I'empl0y' a pai r of for this purpose;

mediately adj acent the slightly elliptical,

' bars,

. nuts 16.

with .stand a ery severe strain}, either downward t ,or horizontal,as'the ca'sejnlay be; a i A base plate .is shown vat .1 8,and is looserelatively to the seats 17 lup'onwhichit rests base plate 18; isprovided with 3 directly. The p a centrally disposed rib '19 integralwith: it

gure 1 is a side view, partly-'infeleva- I 'of of'the splice bars.correspondingito' Fig. 2, but showing a differentform of seatjforengaging and supporting the lowerjportion of thefrail The rail heads-areshown at 5, the rail is I webs' at(ifandthe'railfeet atf7.. -Locatedbelow therail gfeet are-fiat supporting plates 8, resting lupon' crossties A. pair 0f splice bars are shown at110, andfare each .provided witha thickened p'ortionull, lo- Icated at the middle ofthe bar, reckoningin a .the general directionofthe lengththereof this-thickened portion;spanning directly acrossthe; abutting endsoi:'- ,the rails; ,Bolts =12eXtendthrough-the thickened portions 11 of the splice bars and alsothroughthe webs 6-suitable holes being formed in these parts a :Two ofthese holes,-;im-

as indicated atl2 in Fig. 1, in order to a play between the-rail endsand the splice F at'points adjacent the middle portions. of thesplicebars.

portion 13,

it and, following 1 its inner peripheral surrail ends, are made llowaslight degree of I Nuts 13 arefitteduponthe bolts12; v splice bar 10 isiprovided with. ja depending having-a bead14;,integral with g face, asmay be understood from Figs. 1

and 3. -Two bolts 15, somewhat longer'than. i

the bolts 12, extend through holes in the dependingportionsl3f, {and arefitted with Each depending portion 13 is provided with a massive, seatlfl integral it and of suitable gproportions to withand extendingparallel w'th therail's. This strengthening. rib thus; acts 'as a brace1 for the base platel8, in thQmdlI'QCtlOIl which said base plate issubjected to, the greatest strains, "frorn the rail ends resting uponit. The rib;19 is provided with sloping ends 20,

105 yrib extends well; downyfin between these i bolts,and isgunabletomove out ofposition' 1 r y ob ruct d lv, he Pr sen p of -the bolts.;--The-'splice;;bars 10: are prov 1 vided further with notches21,orslots and' by aid of the'latter fastenings 22 are placed:

of the form indieatedin Fig l, so that the because in positlon upon thesupporting plate'sS. In assembling the parts, I find it com-en w forholding, -the-,-splic,e bars down ,fj}

ient to first place one of the splice bars 10 in position, bringingitwell up against the rails. The base plate is next inserted, a portionof the base plate extending outwardly overv the adjacent seat 17 of thesplice bar. The other splice bar is next placed in position, its seat 17being brought under, and in engagement with, the adjacent aortion'of therail feet 7. The bolts 12 and nuts 13 are next fitted in position anddrawn tight. Next the bolts 15 are extended through the dependingportions of the splice bars, and tightened by the nuts 16. This beingdone, the base plate 18 is forced upwardly against the underside of therail feet 7, so that when the joint receives the load, the bolts 15eiiectively prevent the splice bars, and particularly the lower ordepending portions thereof, from spreading apart. This arrangementprotects the joint at its weakest parts. That is to say, the thickenedportions 11 strengthen the joint where it would otherwise be weak onaccount of the weakness of the web 6, and the massiveseats 17, bypressing upwardly against the rail seat 8, effectively produce anupwardly-directed initial strain which meets the downward strain, whichmay be thrown upon them afterward in consequence of the load. In someinstances, as indicated in Fig. 4:, I may discard the base" plate 18.For this purpose, I make the splice bars 23 of the form here indicatedin cross section, and provide each splice bar with a massive portion 24integral with it and'serving as a rail seat. This rail seat is flat ontop, and engages directly the lower surface of the rail seat 7. Theother parts of the splice bars, and parts immediately associatedtherewith, are formed andused as above described.

With the form shown in Fig. l, and in some instances even with the formdisclosed in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the bolts 15 may be omitted if desired.In this event, the splice bars are held together merely by the bolts 12.

It will be also understood, without further description or illustration,that the device above described straight and compromise joints, that is,is applicable for connecting rails of the same weight as well as thoseof different weight.

I do not limit'myself to the precise construction shown, as variationsmay be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention,the scopef'of which is commensurate with my claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is as follows: i

1. In a rail joint the combination of a pair of splice bars providedwith thickened is applicable to both middle portions and with dependingportions having seats disposed adjacent said thickened portions, boltsextending through said depending portions, and a base plate restingloosely upon said seats and provided with a depending web extending inthe direction of the length of said splice bars, said web also extendingbetween said bolts and having a total length less than the distancebetween said bolts.

2. In a rail joint the combination of a pair of splice bars providedwith depending portions having I seats, bolts extending through saidsplice bars and disposed adja cent the ends of said seats, and a baseplate resting upon said seats and provided with a depending portionhaving a length less than the space between said bolts, said dependingportion extending loosely between said bolts in order to prevent saidbase plate from creeping in the direction of the length of said splicebars.

3. In a rail joint the combination of a 'pair of splice bars, eachprovided with a thickened portion, and with a depending portion disposedadjacent the said thickened portion, bolts extending through thedepending portions of the splice bars and disposed parallel to eachother, and a base plate supported by said depending portions 7 andprovided with a depending portion having a length less than the distancebetween the bolts, said depending portion of said base plate extendingloosely between said belts in order to limit the play of said base platein the general direction of the length of said splice bars.

4-. A rail joint comprising a pair of splice bars, means for securingthe same to the meeting ends of a rail, each splice bar provided with adepending central portion, said depending central portion provided witha longitudinally extending laterally projecting ledge defining a seatfor the rail flange, and a base plate resting upon said ledge andsupporting said rail flange, said base plate provided with a dependingWeb extending in the direction of the length of said splice bars, andfastening means ex tending between the depending portions of said splicebar and located in front and in 'the' re'ar of said web preventing thelongitudinal creeping of said base plate.

Signed at Reading, in the county of Berks and State of Pennsylvania,this third day of Ap'ril,A. D. 1914.

FRANK S. STEVENS.

Witnesses:

'J. F. LEBINGOOD,

F. K. MoRR s.

Copies of this patent may be'obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents Washington, D. O.

